Quality Circle Leena K P Assistant Professor Department

Quality Circle Leena K P Assistant Professor Department of Commerce St. Mary’s College, Thrissur

Quality Circle- Definitions v. A voluntary group of people who meet together on a regular basis to identify, analyse and solve quality, productivity, cost reduction, safety and other problems in their work area, leading to improvement in their performance and enrichment of their worklife v. A group of employees that meets regularly to consider ways of resolving problems and improving production in their organization. v A group of employees who volunteer to meet regularly to discuss and propose solutions to problems (as of quality or productivity) in the workplace Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

History v Rudimentary origin in United States in 1930 s v Development in Japan in 1960 s Major contributors – Joseph Juran & Edward Deming Today’s form introduced by Dr. Kaotu Ishikawa in 1962 v Introduced in India in 1980 at BHEL, Hyderabad unit In India QCFI represents The Quality Circle Movement Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Structure of Organisation of Quality Circle Top management Steering Committee Coordinating Agency Facilitator Leader Members Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Basic Quality Improvement Tools v v v v Cause-and-effect diagrams (sometimes called Ishikawa or "fishbone" diagrams) Pareto charts Process mapping, data gathering tools such as check sheets Graphical tools such as histograms, frequency diagrams, spot charts and pie charts Run charts and control charts Scatter plots and correlation analysis Flowcharts Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Objectives v. Enhance quality v. Reduce errors v. Increases productivity v. More effective teamwork v. Promote job involvement and participation v Increase employee motivation v. Create problem solving capability v. Helps in problem prevention v. Better communication v. Harmonious relationship v. Personal and leadership development v. Greater safety awareness v. Helps cost reduction v. Catalyze attitudinal change Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Process v. Identification of problems v. Problem selection v. Problem analysis v. Recommendation to the top management Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Conditions for success of Quality Circle v. Support and commitment from top management v Proper coordination v. Commitment, ability, training and education of and for facilitators, leaders and members v. Systematic and gradual development of Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Reasons of failure of Quality Circle v. Lack of support and commitment from top management v. Lack of coordination, commitment and ability of felicitators, leaders and members v. Opposition from trade unions v. Wrong notions about Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College

Tangible benefits of Quality Circle v Reduction in wastage, rework/rejection, time loss v Innovativeness v Increase in production v Greater safety v Work simplification v Self reliance v Better housekeeping v Better quality Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College maintenance/cost replacement,

Intangible benefits of Quality Circle v v v Increase in job satisfaction Satisfy needs of recognition and self development More involvement with the organization Increase feeling of belongingness Qualitative leadership Better attitude towards change Quality Circle, Leena K P, St. Mary’s College